In One Touch
by Merida Dare
Summary: Dean and Human!Cas. Dean and Cas have become more than friends and Dean is scared of what he can lose. Slightly sad, slightly cute. Destiel feels.


Dean was dying.

He knew it somehow, though he'd never imagined that it would feel this way; everything around him was dark, repressed, and he was suffocating, though his mind was as clear as glass. He could feel himself struggling for breath, but could not feel the lack of oxygen; his mind continued to work perfectly, as though nothing was happening. In a flash of fear, he wondered what would happen if he actually did suffocate. Would he himself live on while his body turned blue and withered?

 _Think, damnit, think_ , he thought angrily, snapping himself out of his panic. People didn't just keep living after their bodies died. Or maybe they did. You never knew what was possible in the supernatural world.

Looking around in the dark, Dean tried to get up, but found an invisible weight pressing him against the floor. He tried again, and was met with the same resistance. Tensing, he held still. There was no growling, no footsteps, no voice.

Silence.

As the seconds passed, Dean realized that he was alone. The barrier was not a living thing, and there was nothing to attack him. There was nothing to _fight_ , and Dean felt a stab of real terror. It was him against a non-living barrier that he couldn't move, and his time was slipping away.

He attempted to take a deep breath, but remembered that he couldn't breathe. Suddenly a white-hot pain exploded in his head, and his last clear thought was the panicked realization that he couldn't _think_.

He was slipping away, farther and farther, lost in the dark, and-

Dean lurched upright in bed, tremors running through his body. He stared through the dark, eyes wide, confused when nothing came at him. He remembered the feeling of the barrier on his chest and took a shaky breath when he registered that it was gone.

"Dean?" Cas's voice came from across the room.

"Cas..."

Dean was embarrassed when he felt tears starting to fall down his cheeks. His breath caught in his throat, and all of a sudden he was crying like a kid.

Cas was there in an instant. "Dean, what's wrong, Dean, talk to me, what happened?" He sat on the bed and pulled Dean next to him, holding him while the other man fell apart.

Dean didn't know why he had been so affected by the dream. It was only one of the millions of nightmares he had experienced since he learned to hunt, and many of them had been much worse. But ever since he and Cas had become more than friends, Dean felt like he had everything to lose, and he was terrified of being taken from him.

Needing reassurance that Cas was actually there, Dean reached up and ran his hand along Cas's cheek. Dean smiled at the rough feeling of stubble under his palm. Cas kept forgetting that now that he was human, he needed to shave. Beginning to calm down, Dean moved his hand to the base of Cas's neck and carded his fingers through the hair there.

Cas hummed against Dean's palm as he brought it to his cheek again. Dean watched the ancient blue eyes go from warm and fond to curious and sad as Cas gazed back at him. Dean could tell that he wanted to ask about his nightmare, but was holding back.

Cas leaned down and touched his lips lightly to Dean's forehead. Dean sighed contentedly at the small kiss. As Cas got up to go back to his own bed, Dean began to feel panicked again, fearing that the darkness and the unmovable barrier would return and take him away, separating them forever.

"Stay with me, Cas?" Dean's voice sounded small, even to him, and he hated how weak he was. He was sure that the other man must think he was pathetic, and he closed his eyes as he waited for Cas to refuse.

He opened his eyes when he felt the bed dip beside him. Cas didn't say anything as he lay down next to Dean, and Dean felt like crying again at the thought that Cas didn't want to be there.

"Thanks, Angel," Dean whispered.

"Anything, Dean."

Cas didn't say anything else, but reached over and simply linked their pinkies together. Dean realized that this was Cas's way of telling him that he was there. He was putting all of his words into this one small touch, and Dean closed his eyes and reveled in the feeling.

For now, it was enough.


End file.
